Dubbed ‘New York’s official coolest new band’ by NME, The Drums have heralded a return to the simplicity of the mind-invading catchiness unique to good, solid, guitar-pop songs. “We love the 1950s,” they say, “it was the beginning of basic pop music. They did it from scratch and pulled these amazing, timeless melodies out of thin air.” And The Drums’, with their New Order-style trebly, melodic bass, Ventures-esque guitar songs about surfing, do exactly that.

On stage their infectious energy manifests as near-lunacy, the band playing their chirpy, whistle stopstart ditties with breathtaking mania. It’s no wonder that after only a year of living in NYC The Drums’ concerts became a weekly dance-party attended religiously by even the most cynical of music fans.

Sally Seltmann is the award-winning songwriter and singer best known for her work as New Buffalo – the artist behind ‘intoxicating’ albums The Last Beautiful Day’ and ‘Somewhere, anywhere.’ Her new album is ‘Heart That’s Pounding’. After the stripped-back elegance of her previous albums, Sally’s new record is an album that resounds with confidence, megawatt melodies and energising joy.

On the back of their third studio album ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’, Glasgow’s Frightened Rabbit is heading to Australia to play the Splendour In The Grass Festival. If you don’t have tickets to see them there, you can still catch them at Melbourne’s Hi-Fi Bar on August 2 and The Factory in Sydney on August 3. Don’t miss out.

Florence + The Machine is without a doubt one of the hottest acts touring Australia this year, with tickets for her Sydney and Melbourne Splendour In The Grass side shows selling out in no time, and a Perth sell out is imminent.

If there’s one band in this country who has sold in excess of half a million albums, singles, DVDs collectively across their relatively short career, it’s the always get on ya feet and dance, The Cat Empire!

Cypress Hill has long represented the will of the people. With over 18 million albums sold worldwide, the Los Angeles trio of rappers B –Real, Sen Dog and producer DJ Muggs have continued to push rap’s boundaries since their inception in the early 90s.

With their eponymous debut album in 1991, B –Real and Sen Dog established themselves as one of rap’s most potent duos.

An undeniable void exists in heavy metal… don’t fear… HELLYEAH are back to revive it in their true bombastic style!

Brace yourself because metal’s baddest group of outlaws, Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan), Chad Gray (Mudvayne), Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne), Bob Zilla (Damageplan) and Tom Maxwell (Nothingface) are on the verge of releasing ‘Stampede’, the follow up to their 2007 self-titled debut. Chad Gray says of the album “I couldn’t wait to write this record. I can’t wait for our fans to hear it and I definitely can’t wait to hit the fucking stage and play it!

Stampede represents every emotion that you’ve ever had and everything that screams HELLYEAH! There’s no smoke and mirrors with what we are. What you see is what you get. And what your get is five guys bringin’ it, a head full of music and bleeding ears!” Continue reading HELLYEAH! Australian Tour – July 2010→

The Resistance lives on. After taking the nation with sheer force at the Big Day Out in January, MUSE will return to bring 2010 to a close with the biggest shows they’ve ever played in Australia – pulling out all the stops to bring their entire, world-class arena production Down Under for shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Scissor Sisters present their impeccable, infectious style of flamboyant pop to the people of Melbourne and Sydney at headline shows this July, in the lead up to their Splendour in the Grass appearance.

“Bullet For My Valentine pummelled a sold-out main hall with riffs and harmonic angst so unbridled that the gathered nearly came unglued at times.” Mike Daniel – Dallas News

It is hardly a secret. Bullet For My Valentine are this generations greatest exponents of metal. Not simply because of one, two or even three amazing albums destined to be classics in the genre; but also because of the manifest evolution – with each album pointing the way to peaks that remain beyond the powers of ordinary bands.

Catch Midnight Juggernauts on Thursday 12 August at The Gov in Adelaide, Saturday 14 August at The Capitol in Perth, Thursday 19 August at The Forum in Melbourne, Friday 20 August at The Forum in Sydney, and Saturday 21 August at the Hi Fi in Brisbane. Tickets are on sale now for all shows.

The Crystal Axis had its genesis in early 2009 when Midnight Juggernauts wired themselves into a house on a remote stretch of coastal New South Wales. Emerging with a collection of songs ripe for recording at Melbourne’s Sing Sing studios, the band again opted to self-produce with engineer Chris Moore (TV on the Radio, Yeasayer, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars) facilitating.

Multi-platinum selling, ARIA & APRA nominated Sydney group Thirsty Merc have announced an 18-date national tour this June/July. Taking in eight states/territories, the MOUSETRAP HEART tour will showcase brand new tracks off Thirsty Merc’s forthcoming album, as well as reinterpret some of Australia’s favourite songs from the band’s first two albums.

One of America’s most celebrated acts of recent times, Midlake, has just delivered their extraordinary third album “The Courage of Others”, and will soon embark on their second Australian tour.

Existing outside the plane of trends and time “The Courage of Others” is a truly committed statement to artistic independence. It is Midlake’s most complete & beautiful body of work yet, best appreciated as a whole in the old-fashioned sense of what an album should be.

Sharing the same gorgeously warm, analogue electro-acoustic template as its much revered predecessor, “The Trials of Van Occupanther” , the new album is definitely a slower, darker, eerier and dreamier, tinged with late 60s/early 70s British folk nuances. Looms of textured keyboards, flute, guitars and voice are woven into broad cloaks of sound, all riding the sound of songwriter Tim Smith’s sweeping vocals. Continue reading Midlake Australian Tour – July/August 2010→